MARITIME

EMPLOYMENT
REVIEW
Technical Shipping
April 2010
Introduction
“PEOPLE CHANGE JOBS FOR ONE OF TWO REASONS:
SOMETHING CHANGED OR SOMETHING DIDN’T”
Mark Charman - Group CEO
The market for technical shipping jobs has
improved considerably in the first quarter
of 2010. We have seen confidence return
to the market and more than just the first
green shoots of spring emerging. We may
not be basking in hot sunshine yet, but the
worst of the bleak frozen winter is certainly
behind us. The more positive feeling in
the general economy and in particular
the ending of the sense of panic that was
so prevalent in 2008/09 has led both
companies and candidates to come out of
their shells and to begin sniffing around for
new opportunities.
When taking on a new job in a technical
area of shipping, be it as a surveyor, fleet
director or business development manager,
the new role will often entail a relocation to
another part of the world or country. The
decision to change jobs is never an easy one
to make and will often hinge on personal
circumstances and family life. With the upturn
in the housing markets in most of the world’s
major economies, candidates are more likely
to accept jobs knowing that they can sell or
rent out their house more easily than last year.
For an individual to decide to make the major
decision of moving job, confidence in both the
company they are going to and the general
economy are key issues. The general sense of
greater confidence in the economy has made
its way down to increased movements across
the technical shipping market.
Technical shipping employment review - 01
Introduction

“We’ve seen confidence expressed in a surge

of CVs submitted to us, hits on our website
and quiet chats with our recruiters”

There is a backlog of people who have been dissatisfied with their current job for some time, but
put plans on hold during the uncertainty of the financial crisis.

People change jobs for one of two reasons: something changed or something didn’t. Whether
it is pay, future prospects or office politics, people who last year felt that on balance a secure job
was better than an insecure job, are now beginning to contact us. We have seen this confidence
expressed in a surge of CVs submitted to us, hits on our website and quiet chats with our recruiters.
The number of new candidates on our books in Q1 2010 is up 26% versus Q1 2009 and the
number of unique visitors to our site is up nearly 20% from 68,000 in Q1 2009 to 81,000 in Q2
2010.

We believe that the numbers of candidates on the market for a new job will continue to rise this
year as confidence continues to grow. However, our local offices in Oslo, Southampton, Singapore
and Fort Lauderdale report different local patterns. Danish and German employers are not hiring
nearly as many candidates as their rivals in Norway, UK and the Netherlands. The Singapore
market is performing particularly strongly, with a particular emphasis on offshore roles. New dry
bulk and tanker operators are springing up across the Asia-Pacific region and all need experienced
and technically competent staff. Indian ship managers are calling on our services to find them Indian
technical managers. With the British pound so weak in comparison to the Euro, UK employers
are struggling to compete with Euro-zone based employers to attract foreign talent. Stringent
and often expensive US and UK visa requirements are making the hiring of non-US/EU citizens
increasingly onerous. We are also seeing a level playing field in terms of salaries offered to technical
superintendents, whatever their nationality or location.

Our survey of candidates placed in a wide range of technical roles for shipping companies, oil
majors, flag states, classification societies and consultancies shows that salaries have remained steady
and that experienced and well qualified candidates remain hot property. We are managing to place
candidates more quickly than before, in an average of 9 weeks, down from 11 weeks in 2009.

Technical shipping employment review - 02

Asia-Pacific
“Despite perceptions to the contrary, there is little
or no difference between the salaries of Asian and
European candidates and there is little difference
in the salary of a technical superintendent placed
in western Europe or Asia”

Technical shipping employment review - 03

Asia-Pacific

As reported in our last technical market review (March 2009), demand for technical
shipping candidates has remained steady through the recession and there has been no
drop in salaries or mass redundancies.

However, since the start of 2010 we have
seen more technical roles, particularly in the
offshore sector. We have seen a number of
new companies enter the sector and look to
fill positions quickly with experienced people.
Many of these offshore operations are start-
ups which are offering senior people a stake
in the company as well as an attractive salary
package. We have also seen a number of new
dry bulk operators opening offices in Singapore
and looking for technical superintendents.
The Indian market continues to grow with
more companies outsourcing their technical
operations to Mumbai. Again, for the first
time we have been asked to find Indian
superintendents for the Indian market. This
is something which has not happened before
with India based operations previously finding it
easy to find good technical people themselves.
Asian shipyards are also keeping us busy, with
many looking for senior European talent to
liaise European owners and design houses.

Indeed demand for technical superintendents

is so strong that for the first time we are being
asked by clients to undertake retained searches
for technical superintendents, something
we have been more used to doing when
placing managing directors and other senior
commercial executives.

Technical shipping employment review - 04

Asia-Pacific

Looking at the salary data below for technical superintendents, we can see that despite perceptions
to the contrary, there is little or no difference between the salaries of Asian and European candidates
and that there is little difference in the salary of a technical superintendent placed in western Europe
or Asia. Of course, the figures below do not take into consideration employer costs, taxation,
office rent and the costs of living which are considerably higher in Europe than in Asia. It is also
important to note that within this data is a wide range of salaries for technical superintendent roles.
On the lower end of the scale a technical superintendent we placed in Asia was a European paid
circa £27K. The highest paid in Asia was an Asian technical superintendent for an urgent newbuild
LNG project on a very attractive salary package of circa £150K.

Technical superintendent salaries

Asia

Europe

60,000 £54,804 £54,359 £54.048

£53,064

50,000
Salary £GBP

40,000
41
30,000

20,000

10,000

0
Salary by location Salary by candidate nationality

Technical shipping employment review - 05

Europe
“The UK market is suffering from the weakness of
the pound in comparison to the Euro and UK based
firms are having to up their packages to attract
mainland Europe candidates to come across”

Technical shipping employment review - 06

Europe
Our Southampton and Oslo offices report a mixed picture. On the one hand, both
offices report that they are placing people more quickly.
This is because many candidates are not being
required to work out their full notice period;
there are more candidates in the market place
and with the upturn in the general economy
and a sense of greater security in the job
market place, people are more willing to make
a move.
On the other hand the tax situation is making it
more of a struggle for companies to find local
people with a local background. There is still
a shortage of experienced ex-seafarers who
are ready and able to fill the countless shore
based roles available to them. Good technical
people know that their salaries will go further
if they move to Hong Kong, Singapore or
Dubai. However, we do advise our candidates
to think carefully about the longer hours
typically expected in Asia and the well funded
European healthcare, pension and insurance
system, which is generally very generous when
compared with other parts of the world.
We are seeing the technical consulting
companies continuing to recruit high level
people, but the classification societies have
been very quiet on European hires in recent
months. From the owners, we have seen
more activity on the tanker side of the business.
Some of the box ship companies are beginning
to slowly hire again after the recruitment
freezes of 2009. Many ship management
companies are expanding their scope and
moving into different vessel types, creating
a demand for new people with different skill
sets and experience. However, with a huge
pressure on costs, some ship management
firms are downsizing and ship management
companies are having to be more creative
than ever in finding ways to make a profit in
a tough market and are on the look-out for
very good technical people who can deliver
the solutions they need. However, the UK
market is suffering from the weakness of the
pound in comparison to the Euro and UK
based firms are having to up their packages to
attract mainland Europe candidates to come
across. The stricter visa requirements recently
put in place by the UK authorities are also
making the placement of non-EU citizens in
the UK more onerous than ever before. As
in Asia, we are finding that in a candidate short
market, we are having to headhunt people for
technical roles in a way that was not necessary
during the boom years.
Denmark continues to experience difficulties,
especially compared to Germany and Norway
and we are seeing this reflected in the lack of
movement between companies.
Technical shipping employment review - 07
Europe

Number of weeks taken to place a candidate

15 14 14

12 10.5
10
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Oil majors are making very quick hiring decisions, whilst many shipping companies seek
board approval for a senior technical hire, thus slowing down the placement process.

Technical shipping employment review - 08

The Americas
“We have seen strong demand in the LNG sector
for technical superintendents, whilst the offshore
and OEM markets are fluctuating”

Technical shipping employment review - 09

The Americas

The Faststream Fort Lauderdale operation reports that confidence and activity has
risen across all sectors. This can be partly attributed to pent-up demand from a lack of
hiring during 2009, but also to a general sense of optimism surrounding the prospects
for economic recovery.

Interestingly many of the roles available are As in our European and Asian offices, we are
either at the top end or bottom end of the seeing a reduction in the length of time needed
experience spectrum. Mid-level positions are to place candidates, but still nowhere near as
not so readily available. We think that this may rapid a turnaround time as during the 2006-
be because mid-level candidates, typically 2008 boom period when people were being
in their thirties and with young families, are taken on speculatively to manage the future
reluctant to move. Higher level jobs become growth expectancies.
available through natural wastage and there are
vacancies at the highest levels and opportunities
for mid-level candidates to make the step up.
However, those that do take the step up are
often not being replaced.

Non-US citizens are finding it harder to

secure positions within US companies as the
cost of securing a visa becomes more of an
issue than ever before. Today a visa can cost
between $2.5 and $10K to secure, with many
companies not willing to spend this to secure
the services of a European or Asian technical
manager.

We have seen strong demand in the LNG

sector for technical superintendents, whilst
the offshore and OEM markets are fluctuating.
The US flag market is finding it tough at the
moment, but has remained relatively stable.
Growth in both the South American shipyard
business and the offshore sector has seen
demand for people by classification societies
and consultancies.

Technical shipping employment review - 10

FIGURES

Technical shipping employment review - 11

 Figures

Months Age (Years)

Te

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
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20
30
40
50
60
70
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49
Average candidate age

O O
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48
Average time in previous role
41.9

Technical shipping employment review - 12

Figures

Average candidate salary

100,000

80,000
Salary £GBP

60,000

40,000

20,000

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Technical Superintendent £56,067

Fleet / Technical Manager £59,678

Surveyor (Class / Flag) £46,634

Oil Major £65,756

Business Development / Sales £69,589

General Management £87,914

Technical shipping employment review - 13

Figures

Candidate nationality

West Europe - 36%

North America - 23%

Asia - 21%

East Europe - 9%

Scandinavia - 6%

Africa - 2%

Australia - 1%

Middle East - 1%

South America - 1%

Surveyor nationality

West Europe - 32%

North America - 22%

Asia - 18%

East Europe - 20%

Africa - 5%

Middle East - 3%

Technical shipping employment review - 14

Figures

Fleet Superintendent / Manager nationality

West Europe - 50%

North America - 7%

Asia - 29%

East Europe - 5%

Scandinavia - 9%

Technical shipping employment review - 15